It pains me to see customers spending hundreds of dollars on new plants and simultaneously refusing to spend a few more on a bag or two of compost and a box of starter fertilizer. These two items are not unnecessary “add-ons” that the retailer is just trying to add to the sale, they are critical components of a successful transplanting process - or as I like to refer to them as “plant insurance”. Unless you have phenomenal soil, you should always add compost and starter fertilizers when you are planting new plants. Here is why…
We are blessed with an extended parade of flowering trees in our northwest spring. Starting in February, we get to enjoy the flowering plums and flowering pears followed by all sorts of flowering cherries and several forms of magnolias. But as we move closer to the end of April, the pickings can get slim. Fortunately, this is exactly when the flowering crabapples come into bloom…
Rhododendrons are by far one of the most spectacular blooming shrubs for northwest gardens. They come in many colors and sizes, are usually evergreen, and for the most part are easy to grow. With proper selection, a person could actually have a rhodie blooming in their garden from February through June….
I have this theory (I know, some of you are thinking, “OMG, what is he going to say next”), that gardeners possess a special “horticultural hormone” that I have dubbed “hortitostrogen”. This is a non-gender specific hormone that kicks in about this time of the year and causes my fingers to start twitching with an intense desire to go dig in the dirt. I wonder if any of you can relate…
The Golfing Gardener
Trevor Cameron
It goes without saying that Japanese maples, in all of their varied shapes, sizes and foliage options, represent some of my favorite botanical treasures. My landscape remains dotted with a number of them that I planted when I first moved in, but over the years I have…